I would never be presumptive enough to call myself an "artist". On a good
day, when all things are going my way.......great piece of wood.......razor
sharp tools........not too hot or cold in the shop..........I might.......I
say MIGHT.......be a craftsman. If I ever get referred to by someone else
as being a "craftsman", my head will swell with pride.

Barry


"Fred Holder" wrote in message
...
Hello Charlie,

You are right, there are no stupid questions, mostly just stupid answers
when
someone asks what some feel are stupid questions.

The cowboy hat came into being back in the early 1990's when Johannes
Michelsen
turned a cowboy hat as a wedding present for a friend, who just happened
to be
the director of the Woodturning Center in PA. It went over well and he
turned a
few more, they sold well and he was asked to demonstrate how he did it
and to
teach people how. These are a very complex turning and show great skill.
That is
why people turn cowboy hats and other types of hats.

Most of the people who make complex segmented pieces enjoy the making up
of the
rings and designs. When I first started turning, I didn't have anything
but flat
boards to make bowls from. I used segmenting to make bowl blanks from flat
boards. Mine had no fancy designs, they were just bowls made up from flat
boards. As I recall, I had a lot of 1x2 inch stuff left over from some
other
project, cut them up into segments, glued them into rings, stacked the
rings and
glued them together to make a bowl blank. When I got hold of some larger
wood, I
quit doing segmented work. However, the people who do fancy segmented
bowls and
vessels like the design work and the making up of the bowl or vessel from
a lot
of small pieces. They do this because they like to do it and because they
can.

Over the last few years, there has been a great deal of effort being put
in by
many woodturners to try to create "art", not by turning the piece, but by
taking
a turned piece and carving it, abusing it, burning it, texturing it, and
even
sawing it up and glueing it back together all in the name of art. The
people who
do this and are artists to start with generally do it very well and create
some
outstanding art pieces. Many people, who are not artists, try to do the
same
thing and the pieces they create turn me off completely. Why do they do
these
things, because "art" brings in more money than "craft" and people like to
think
their work is worth what they have put into it in time and material, plus
a
little bit more.

I probably haven't answered your questions, but maybe I've touched on some
of
the reasons why these things are done. In the final analysis, it is
probably for
the reason that someone else stated: because we can!

Fred Holder
http://www.fholder.com

In article , charlie b says...

As I get more into turning I see works that baffle me.
Not because of their complexity, or the perceived
difficulty in turning such things, but because of the
apparent waste of time and a misuse of the medium
and the method - turning.

I'm probably going to step in it big time but -

Why go to all the trouble of precisely cutting
a bunch of pieces of several different kinds of
wood, glue them together and then turn them
to look like a ceramic piece whose patterns
are created with glazes when glazed ceramic
does it so much better? The thing that makes
turned wood different is the grain and color
of the wood and the finish(es) it will take.
But most segmented turnings I've seen don't
add these characteristics of wood to the piece
because the individual pieces are so small.

I can see doing laminates and segmented stuff
for the handle of a pool cue, but a pot or vase?

Why take a piece of wood and turn it into
a cowboy hat? The medium doesn't lend
itself to this application. The wood doesn't
add anything to the form. So why turn
a cowboy hat?

I wonder about the beautiful turned form,
with the spikes and knobs somehow added.
Why, when other mediums lend themselves
to this type of thing so much better -
and easier?

These things seem to me to be misuses
of the medium. With all the things one
can created with wood, a lathe, some
tools, hard earned skills and techniques,
why put them to these uses?

I can understand turning forms that could
be created in other ways, but are done
quicker and easier on a lathe, out of wood.
And the wood can add to the form to make
a more interesting/pleasing object.

I can understand turning a hollow form
so thin that it becomes translucent. That
can really show off the wonderousness of
some woods. The longevity of the piece
I question - but this type of thing is
pretty and fun to look at and examine.

I guess it's a Sir Edmund Hilary thing,
a version of "Because it's there" - in
this case "Because I can."

When I was a teacher, I made it a point
to repeatedly say "There's no such thing
as a dumb question. If you want to
know/understand something, have tried
to find the answer and haven't found the
answer - you won't be asking a dumb
question.".

In that spirit I ask "Why segmented
bowls? Why turned wooden cowboy
hats? "

charlie b
an admirer of woods
and the people who
use it well